The Watch That Tells the Past
by KyokoFujimiya
Summary: A young girl arrives at Kogoro's office and asks to find a man who stole her watch, but is she really looking for the watch or the man?


"...So now you know the truth, little girl. It's unfortunate that going to the police with this information is useless now."

A large man in his late 40's stood in the walkway of his house as he spoke to the young woman outside. He gave a defiant smile as the woman, showered with rain, looked down as if defeated. The sad smile on her face, however, indicated she has one last trick up her sleave.

"Is that so..." She said as she put her hand into her jacket.

It's another day at Detective Mori's apartment. Ran was cooking dinner for 3, Kogoro was enjoying a recording of Yoko's live concert performance, and Conan played with his soccer ball in the living room. Suddenly, a loud knock interrupted everyone's activities. Kogoro gave an annoyed look at the door interrupting his precious time with Yoko, and instructed Conan to open it. An annoyed Conan reluctantly obeyed, and everyone was introduced to a young woman who couldn't be any older than 18.

"Please! I need your help to find someone! It's important!"

"... So, you say this man stole something very important to you?"

After changing into a suitable outfit and shaving, Kogoro and the young woman sat across from each other as she told them about the case she wanted him to work on. Her name was Nao Foyer. She was 17 years old with long brown hair in a ponytail and glasses. She currently lives in America but was born in Japan and was currently visiting the country with friends for summer vacation.

She nodded her head with tears in her eyes, "That's right. He stole a watch that my father gave to me for good luck. I overslept and was late meeting up with my friends and so I rushed to run out of the hotel room. I was putting on my watch as I ran to the meeting spot when the man bumped into me and knocked me to the ground. By the time I realized my watch was gone, he had dissapeared. It's a silver watch with diamonds around the face's rim, and in the middle of the face is a blue dragon and it's hands are the hour and minute hands. It's a very precious family heirloom and I must have it back!"

Kogoro stroked his chin in thought, "Well, if this is just a case of random burglery, the thief may have tried to sell the watch already. I'll check the local pawn shops and let you know if I find anything."

The young girl's face glowed as she jumped up, "Thank you so much, Mister Mori! I knew I could count on you!" She shook his hands and ran out the door, leaving the trio dumbfounded.

The next day as Kogoro went to visit pawn shops to see if anyone had sold Nao's watch, Ran and Conan went shopping.

"...Tell me again why I'm coming with you to look for Sonoko's birthday present?" Said an annoyed Conan. He would have much rather spent his day off watching the soccer match, but Ran begged him to go shopping with her, and her pleading eyes were something Shinichi just couldn't say no to.

Ran replied with a blush, "Because I need a second opinion! And because it's for Sonoko, I dont have anyone else to help me decide. Please just help me out, okay!"

Before Conan could reply, the duo heard someone call out to them from behind. They turned around to see Nao running and waving.

"What a coincidence finding you here! You guys shopping?" After catching up with Ran and Conan, the trio decided to head over to a cafe for drinks.

"Yes, I'm getting a birthday present for a friend. Are you getting souveniers?"

Nao gave a huge grin, "Yup! I'm getting T-shirts and other trinkets for some friends back at home. I have one friend who's a huge fan of Japanese comics, so I'm getting a few books of her favorite series. And..." She reached into her bag and pulled out a kataana, "I got this for my boyfriend! He likes to collect different swords and this one is made by a famous swordsmen! It was a bit pricey but I just couldn't help it!" Her huge smile lit up her whole face.

Ran couldn't help but smile as well, "That's so nice!! You must really love your boyfriend, huh?"

Nao nodded in reply. "Yes! We've known each other for years. When I moved to America he was my very first friend. He was always very kind and supportive and he was the one to break me out of my shell after my parents died. I just hope one day I can be just as much of a support to him as he has been too me over the years..."

"That is so sweet!" Replied Ran, "but I'm so sorry about your parents..."

Nao gave a sad smile, "Thank you. They were journalists who were killed in a fire when I was seven. A friend of theirs who lived in America took me in after their deaths..." after spacing out for a second, she lifted her head and smiled, "But that's all in the past! I love my foster parents and my life in America! Everyone's been so kind to me--"

Across the street was a store selling TVs. The screen showed a large man in his 40's giving a speech. He was clean shaven with a scar above his right eye. Nao stared at the screen, a surprised look on her face. Then she suddenly jumped out of her chair and ran to get a better look at the screens.

A surprised Conan and Ran ran after her, "What is it, Foyer-san!" Ran asked after catching up.

Nao pointed her finger at the man on tv. Her face still full of shock, "That's him!! That has to be him!"

"You mean the man who stole your watch?" Asked Conan.

Nao was surprised by the question, "y...yeah! That's the man..." She avoided looking at Conan or the screen as she answered.

Ran was excited. "This is great! Let's head over to Dad's office and tell him the news!"

As she started dragging Nao back to her house, Shinichi stared at her with suspicion.

The trio arrived at Ran's house to find an exhausted and annoyed Kogoro with his head on the table. Apparently he had searched all the pawn shops in the area as well as a few other suspicious places the thief could have taken the watch to, and found nothing.

"But Dad, we found out who the thief was just a little while ago!"

Kogoro picked his head up in surprise, "EH?! Who is it?"

After Nao explained that it was the man on TV, Kogoro laughed. "That man?! That's Hiroshi Mitsumino! He's a politician running for govenor who's known to be extremely rich. There's no reason for him to steal your watch!"

Tears were forming in Nao's eyes as she frowned, "But it IS him! I swear it is! Take me to his house and I can prove it!" Kogoro started to protest this which made her all the more determined, "If you take me, I'll double my pay to 10,000 yen even if you don't find it! I know it was him!!"

Because Kogoro just couldn't say no to such easy money, and because he was worried that the girl might try to find the guy on her own, he made a phone call to Hiroshi's house to and brought Nao to question him. Despite his protests, Ran and Conan came along as well.

The group stopped in front of a rather large mansion. While Ran and Kogoro were gawking at how rich this man must be, Conan was staring at Nao's actions. She was looking around as though she was trying to memorize everything about the place. As the doors opened to let everyone in, Shinichi made a mental note of her strange behavior in the back of his mind.

"Ah, you must be Detective Mori-san." Everyone looked forward to see Hiroshi walking towards them. "It's nice of you to visit, although I'm not sure about the circumstances... You say a young woman is claiming that I stole her watch?"

Kogoro scratched the back of his head in embarrasement, "That's right. I tried to explain to her that there's no reason to steal your watch, but she insisted on proving she was right--"

Nao interrupted Kogoro with her accusations, "That's right! It was you who stole my watch! I can prove it too; since you're wearing it RIGHT NOW!!"

Everyone turned in surprise to Hiroshi's left hand and noticed that he did, in fact, have a watch similar to the one she described at the detecive agency.

Hiroshi looked at the watch in his hand and laughed, "You mean this thing? Young lady, this isn't your watch. My wife gave me this watch a long time ago as a wedding gift." He took the watch off and showed them an engravement underneath, "See, she even had it engraved with my name on it."

Nao took the watch from his hands and examined the watch back and forth. Shinichi noticed that she didn't seem angry or frustrated at all, but rather happy. Nao gave the watch back to him and smiled. "You're right! I'm so sorry. This is not my watch. My watch had a blue dragon on it anyway, not a red one."

"Well, now that this little missunderstanding has been cleared up, it's time for me to pick up my son from his piano lessons. I'm sorry about your watch, I hope you can find it."

"You have a son?!" Nao said in shock.

"Why yes, my son Naozumi. He'll be eight years old soon. He's extremely bright; top of his class." Hiroshi's chest swelled up as he boasted about his precious son.

"I see... that's great!" Said Nao, but Conan noticed that her expression became strangely sad compared to her happy smiling self just a few minutes ago.

_This is strange. Why was she so happy to be proven wrong about the watch, but sad when she learns about this man's son, _Thought Shinichi. _Something's not right about this situation._

As they left Hiroshi's house, Nao gave Kogoro the money she promised. "I'm sorry about your watch," Kogoro couldn't help but feel bad as he looked at the girl's sad and dissapointed expression, "If you want, there are a few places I haven't tried looking yet. I'm sure I can find it tomorrow."

Nao looked up at Kogoro with saddened eyes, "It's okay. I'm going back home tomorrow. I guess it's destiny." She turned and started walking towards the road. "If you don't mind, i'd rather be alone right now. I'm gonna get a taxi. Thank you very much for your help, Mori-san."

As she walked away, Conan couldn't help but notice the storm clouds approaching as if they were following her.

The rain was pouring down at Kogoro's house. Ran looked out the window in concern, "I hope Foyer-san made it back to her hotel all right..."

Kogoro had been drinking a few and was starting to speak without thinking, "She'll be fine. what I don't get is why she was so insistent that Mitsumino had taken that watch in the first place..."

"Has that man done anything bad in the past, Ojii-san?" Asked a curious Conan.

Kogoro was getting annoyed by the questions, "And why do you want to know, brat?"

Conan pointed above his right eye, "He has a scar right here, and you don't get scars unless you're a bad guy, right?"

"There are many reasons he could have that scar!" Said Ran, "Just because you have a scar doesn't mean you're a bad guy."

"Hmmm... but now that I think about it, quite a few years back Mitsumino did have a reputation for being involved with the mafia and the black market. He was put under suspicion for murdering a pair of journalists who were investigating his background, but he was proclaimed innocent because he had an alibi. Those charges damaged his reputation though, and he had to spend alot of time and money fixing that. "

"Did you say journalists?!"

"Yeah... why-- Hey!!"

Before Kogoro could answer him, Conan had put a raincoat on and ran out the door. He didn't have time to explain, he just knew he had to get to Hiroshi's house and FAST!!

The door bell at Hiroshi Mitsumino's house was ringing once again. He came to greet the guest, and discovered Nao standing in the rain, her head down.

"What is it young girl, did you forget somethin--"

"Kaoru and Misa Yamazaki!"

Hiroshi froze in shock at the names of people long forgotten. Nao looked up at him in anger. "You remember them right?! The names of the two people you killed all those years ago! The names of my parents!!"

It took a few seconds for Hiroshi to recover from the shock. His nervousness was hard to hide, "Are you talking about those two journalists who died in that tragic fire? Miss, I'm sorry for your loss, but it was proven long ago that I couldn't have killed them. I was having a conference that night when the fire started. There was no way I could have done that."

"Liar! You were there that night! My parents had hidden me in my closet and told me not to come out no matter what. I remember the yelling and the gun shots, I remembered seeing your watch through the cracks in the doors!"

Nao remembered being too afraid to move, and then a few hours later she could see smoke coming into the closet and she suddenly couldn't breathe. She heard a faint voice calling out to her, forgot her fear of the man earlier, and ran to the voice. Her mother, not yet killed by the gun shot, was sitting against the wall next to her husband.

The blood on her mother's body frightened the 7-year-old, "Mommy!! You're hurt!"

Her mother ignored the child's cries and smiled, "Listen... Nao... you have to leave the house... right away... go find a policeman..."

"But Mommy!! What about you and Daddy!!"

Misa kissed her daughter's forehead; tears were forming in her eyes, "Daddy and I will follow you..." The fire was getting worse and a board from above had come crashing down near the family. Misa pushed her daughter towards the door, "Run now!!"

Nao did as her mother was told and ran to find an officer, but by the time help arrived, it was too late. The house was ablaze and it was too late for the couple. Tears poared down Nao's face as she cried out for her parents.

"...All I could remember about the man who killed my parents was the watch. I didn't understand what they had gotten involved in until years later when I started to investigate their deaths on my own. I heard your name meantioned as a suspect but you had been declared innocent since you had an alibi when the fire started..." Now Nao looked up at Hiroshi, her eyes no longer angry but sad and pleading, "I just want to know the truth! It was you who killed my parents that night, wasn't it?!"

Hiroshi just stood there on the walkway, the roof over his head protecting him from the rain that was showering Nao, making her look even more pitiful in his eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her pity.

"Yes... I killed your parents. Those two had been looking into my affairs just a little TOO much, and I couldn't risk my career. I tried to reason with them to not print out what they knew, but they were too blinded by their ideals to think of the consequences, so I got rid of them. After I shot them I poared kerosene on their bodies and put those papers they risked their lives for next to a candle. By the time that candle got low enough to burn those papers and start that fire, I was far away at the press conference. They had a temporary victory, though, since some people knew they were looking into my affairs and the bad publicity cost me the election. It took alot of money to get my reputation back, but in the end, it seems I've won. But..." He looked at the young girl hanging her head, "I had no idea they had a child."

Shinichi had used his voice modulator to call Megure and instructed him to pick up Conan and take him to Hiroshi's house. Right as Megure stopped the car, Conan jumped out and ran to look for them.

"So now you know the truth, little girl. It's unfortunate that going to the police with this information is useless now, since I was proven innocent. It's best if you head back to your new parents and just forget this whole mess, unless you want to make the same mistake as those journalists."

Nao's head was still hanging, but a sad smile ran across her face, hinting that she had one last trick up her sleave, "Is that so..." She said as she reached into her coat. Hiroshi's face filled with fear as he put his own hand in his jacket, but he was too slow...

A tape recorder was pushed into his face, and Nao's teary eyes shined with victory, "It looks like you're the one who lost, Mitsumino. It's true that you can't be tried again for the death of my parents, but if I bet certain newspapers and magazines would LOVE to heard this recording of your confession. It looks like you're the one who's lost."

Fear crossed Hiroshi's face, and then anger. "You little bitch!" He shouted as he pulled out his gun. A suddenly frightened Nao backed up a few steps. "You think I'm going to let you take that to anyone?! I'll get rid of you like I did your parents!"

As he started to pull the trigger, a soccerball flew out of nowhere and knocked the gun out of his hand, as well as breaking it. Hiroshi kneeled to the ground in pain as police officers surrounded the man, aiming their own guns. Nao turned around to see a small boy with glasses, his foot up in the air as if he was the one who gave that powerful kick.

"... who are you?" She asked.

A smile ran across the boy's face, "Conan Edogawa" He said quiet enough so that only she could here, "I'm a detective."

The next day, Ran, Conan, and Kogoro went to escort Nao to her airplane. Nao had hidden her tape from the police, for fear that they might take it for evidence, and the next day every newstation in the area was reporting about Hiroshi Mitsumino's arrest for attempted murder and his confession. His carrer as a politician was over.

"I still can't believe it! He seemed like such a nice person when we talked to him yesterday!" Said Ran.

Nao sighed, "I'm just glad this whole mess is over. Now I can really put my parents' death behind me."

"Still, you were pretty stupid coming by yourself. If the police hadn't come in time, you could have been killed!" Kogoro was still angry. The girl reminded him of his own daughter a little bit, and so he felt a little protective of her.

"Why were you so sad when you found out he had a kid?" Asked a curious Conan.

"Oh that... I didn't know he had any children. I almost didn't go through with it, since it seems he has a great relationship with his son, but then I thought about it and losing his family on top of his reputation as a politician was the perfect revenge for all the stuff he put me through." Her dark laughter made everyone suddenly nervous, and Kogoro started thinking that this girl was nothing like Ran.

"But I'm surprised, Onee-san!" Said an innocent looking Conan, "I thought you had a gun in your pocket, not a tape recorder!"

It was Nao's turn to be surprised, "A GUN?! Why would I bring a gun with me?!"

Someone started laughing, and a young, blonde man wrapped his arms around Nao, "A gun? This girl couldn't hurt a fly."

Everyone jumped in surprise, but Nao just looked up and gave a bright smile, "Alex!!"

Ran and Conan's jaws dropped, "THAT'S your boyfriend?!"

Nao looked at the duo and smiled, "Yes!! Isn't he the coolest?!"

Alex laughed again, "Hey beautiful. I was wondering what you were doing while we were all having fun." His face became serious, "But I agree with this man here. It was pretty stupid to go there by yourself. You could have taken someone with you."

"No way! If someone came with me, he probably wouldn't have told me anything! It's because I was alone he thought he had the upper hand and gave me what I needed to know!"

Alex smiled and rubbed Nao's hair. "Well, you're okay, which is what matters. Just be careful next time, allright?"

An announcement saying their flight was boarding could be heard, and the couple started walking towards the gate. Nao turned around again to wave, and as she looked at Conan she winked and said, "Thanks for all your help, little detective."

"What does she mean by that?" Asked ran and Kogoro. A nervous Conan replied, "I'm not sure! Maybe she meant when we were looking for the watch or something."

Ran stared at Conan suspiciously, and Kogoro changed the subject to finding something to eat. Nao looked out her airplane window, happy she could finally finish the work her parents started all those years ago, and started thinking of her own future.


End file.
